The one thing the 2005 Wonka movie absolutely nails

Don't worry this isn't some clickbait "the 2005 Wonka Movie is better then you remember" sort of thing. Given its age, the Tim Burton film fails squarely in that shitty cgi "reimagining" and first wave of bad-to-mediocre remakes (I don't know if this one is bad though I'm not a critic). I have a lot of nostalgia for this film, as it's the one I watched as a kid. I never saw the 1964 film (but I did read the original book) until much later as an adult going on my "classic movies" craze. I think I watched it during covid. Now with a more critical eye; I can certainly appreciate the original film more. I think it has that sort of comfy, shot on film atmosphere that old films have. They are both very "on acid" feeling movies though.

There's something interesting about films like this. It tries to be a remake that tells its own story, a fresh modern coat of paint on an older product, but when you look at it now it's terribly dated and very set in its era of mid 2000s clean aesthetic. It's been superseded by an even newer film; which may one day also be replaced by an even newer remake. That's the thing about remake culture, the new shiny one eventually gets replaced, which will leave behind ugly, awkward middle children who are neither the timeless classics nor the shiny new thing.

However, every piece of media is influenced by the time and period in which it was created. There's something about this film in particular that it does really, really well; and that's modernizing some of the "bad kid" characters. Ultimately Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is about succession and parenthood, and about how ultimately it's the parents who make bad kids. The other kids are spoiled, but Charlie gets nothing. So Charlie is the good kid, and so he is rewarded, while the others are punished. It's a very classic Christian myth.

But there's one character in particular the 2005 film does so much better then the original it isn't even close. I'm genuinely a little surprised there isn't more talk about it. 

The Kids & Their Moral Failings
In Charlie & the Chocolate Factory, each kid that breaks the rules of the factory does so because of a huge character flaw. The Oompa Loompas songs tell us what each kid did wrong, but also make sure to hint that the problem with each kid really stems from their parents. Augustus is too hedonistic and greedy, and his parents don't stop him or set boundaries for his health or well-being. Veruca Salt is just a terrible spoiled brat who was never told no to anything by her rich parents. Mike Teavee is media obsessed and lives in fantasy; characterized by Westerns in the first film (that era of brainrot slop) and video games in the second. If a new one was made in today's zeitgeist he'd probably be watching tiktok. Out of all of kids; the most forgettable one is probably Violet (except as the source of that weird inflation/blueberrification fetish), and in the original film her characterization and "flaw" is probably the weakest out of all of the kids. She... chews gum? Obviously it's a pet peeve of Roald Dahl, but it really isn't some indication of some massive character flaw other then being a gross habit. In the book she's fleshed out more; being more rude and gossipy, so the "chewing all day" thing could kinda be seen as a shorthand for talking behind people's back and being a rude, nasty child. Perhaps this could hint at the kind of no-restrictions parenting that allows children to have bad habits; being rude to people with no filter, chewing gum, maybe even leading to smoking or other bad behaviors. Obviously this is a very liberal interpretation. But then, look at the remake handled it.

Instead of just chewing gum as a bad habit, it's recontextualized as a competition; trying to get the world record in chewing the same piece of gum. Her entire character is reworked towards the idea of being a sort of over-achieving, competitive, nasty kid who thinks they have infinite potential and the arrogance behind it. And this is absolutely perfect for the moral failing of her mother.

Remember, this movie came out in the early 2000s, which was the era defined by helicopter parenting. Bad parent/child relationships are common among every generation, that's how generational trauma works (and raising kids isn't easy) but specifically I feel this era was where people really started to take a critical eye to these over-achiever, "living vicariously through my child" type of people, and putting up warnings in media to basically say why this is a bad thing. This was even the height of the craze (at least that I can remember) of the knee-jerk overblown reaction to things like participation trophies in schools and attendance awards; and while not directly related to Violet's character, it's part of the cultural undercurrent.

Look at their living room. In a panning shot for this scene, we see yet more trophies on another glass shelf before it cuts to Violet and her mother standing there, in identical athletic suits. There are no toys in this room. Across from there are a bunch of reporters to which Violet describes wanting to find the ticket, and be "better" then all the other ticket winners and be the one kid to "claim the special prize". The entire time, her mother is staring at her intensely with a crazed expression, like making sure she doesn't fumble her words or make a single mistake in front of all these reporters. She makes sure to show off her own trophies and awards, but the focus is clearly on her child. The father is not in the picture. Even her winning the ticket, something that should be appreciated as sheer luck and random chance, is chalked up to being her skill or yet again an achievement to work towards.

While it's not really accurate to the book; children and their problems aren't really the same as they were in 1964. I feel like this era, the era of the internet and mass media but not-quite social media was the perfect conditions for this very specific type of person; ambitious and driven, but not in a good way. Overly obsessed with looks and superficial value. Everyone wants their 15 minutes of fame, and with a world ever-shrinking in personal possibilities as every sport and industry became hyper optimized; the "Ripley's Believe It or Not" era of achievement was in full force. Amass pointless awards and world records even if they mean nothing; being a world champion gum chewer is a perfect shorthand for this kind of achievement. It doesn't represent any kind of personal growth or societal problem being solved; it's just a big number for your own ego. And her mother is the one behind it all; wanting her child to succeed and placing this pressure on her not because it would make her happy, but because she has to just be the best. You're the best kid, so I'm the best mom. Looking up the scene online, I've seen some people say there was a "mother vs daughter competitiveness" thing going on here, but I really don't see it. Violet's mom even says "She's just a driven young woman. I have no idea where she gets it.". I think it's pretty clear. She's a tiger mom.

Coming from someone who is a bit of an underachiever myself; I can't say I've been the victim of this kind of parenting myself. I have no trauma. But I did have friends who did. Kids who were literally afraid of showing their report card to their parents, kids who were in multiple clubs and HAD to be Valedictorian and HAD to have all AP classes and just HAD to get into the best collages and so on. It's not that working hard and achieving things is bad, it's the fact that parents do it their kids in a destructive and unhealthy way. I think it's easy to forget what it was like as a kid, because as an adult at some point you realize that you'll never live up to your full possible potential, you'll accept it. There are always people better then you, but also people worse. You can always sink into mediocrity and feel some comfort in it. You're at the age where you know people fail and burn out, so you can take things a little easier yourself, at least mentally. No matter how arrogant you are, this grounds you. But kids don't have this. Their parents word is law, and their approval is the most important thing in the world. It's no longer get a bad grade and feel bad because of that, it's get a bad grade and make your mom or dad upset and disappointed in you, and that's much worse. This version of Wonka has a much better Violet for this reason, because it's a cautionary tale that if you hollow out your child and fill them with your dreams instead of theirs, and put all the pressure on them to succeed at any cost, it turns out that eventually they'll blow up.